If anyone knows a thing or two about boots, it’s Brad Mondo. The influencer, YouTuber, haircare mogul and hairstylist has always gone grunge when it comes to shoes, with a wide-ranging collection of largely black footwear elevated with brands like Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and 1017 ALYX 9SM. After all, Mondo is a self-professed “emo kid” — and holds an edgy shoe collection to match.
“I think I’m just going to stay in that era for the rest of my life,” Mondo exclusively shares with FN. “I feel like every year my clothes get baggier, and chunkier, and bigger and heavier — and I’m okay with that. I love that.”
Mondo’s presence has rapidly expanded since launching his namesake haircare brand XMONDO Hair in 2019, allowing for greater engagement with his 9 million TikTok followers (plus 2 million on Instagram). He’s also established himself as a Fashion Week regular, attending shows for brands including Savage X Fenty and Cucculelli Shaheen. Seemingly in tandem, his shoe tastes have also expanded and grown in their variety, ranging from sculpted foam boots to 3D-printed sneakers — and always, as he specifies, with a platform.
Watch on FN
Below, Mondo breaks down his go-to shoe styles, shopping secrets and the best boots to wear when creating viral hair looks.
How many shoes do you own: I really try to narrow it down. I do cleaning out throughout the year. New York City is not really built for having a lot of shoes, so I keep it at about 50.
Shoe beginnings: When my mom would leave home and I would be alone at the house, I would go into her closet and try on her stilettos and her platform shoes, because we’re the same size. I remember being infatuated by a stiletto or a colorful shoe, anything with a heel on it. I would be living my best “America’s Next Top Model” life while she was gone, and I don’t think I’ve ever told her that. That is definitely where my love of shoes came from, and my dad always loved shoes, too.
First designer kicks: They were so “me” at the time. They were a pair of pink Gucci Rhyton trainers. It was that whole Jeffree Star, Gucci moment going on, and I was like, “Oh my god, I need to be an influencer and wear pink shoes.” They’re still kind of iconic, I just never wear them.
Favorite brands: 1017 ALYX 9SM, Rick Owens, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier, Y/Project.
Core boots: The moment I found out that [Dr. Martens] make a platform [boot] version with the zip on the side, that was the only shoe I wore for probably four years or five years. I love a slip-on shoe; I don’t like tying stuff. Everything needs to have a platform, because I’m not that tall, so I need to look exaggerated with the shoe on. You really need to break those things in, or else your feet are just bleeding all day.
Most comfortable shoes: I don’t go for [comfort] often — I never shop for [comfort]. When I’m walking my dog, I do wear my Balenciaga track shoes because they’re so fluffy and they actually make really comfy shoes. It’s really cushy, and I like to feel like a bad-ass bitch while wearing trainers — they can’t be anything too basic, and they have to be super chunky. Outrageously chunky, always.
Least comfortable shoes: I have these Prada Monolith loafers. Prada in general makes very uncomfortable shoes, in my opinion — but any kind of hard leather, the backs of them just kill me. I get the worst blisters from those shoes, but they’re so slay. They’re the nuanced version with the chunky platform on them — I love them, but I really never reach for them because I can’t handle it.
Go-to shoes: My Bottega [Veneta] lug-soled Chelsea boots. I’ve had them for three years now, and I’ve run them into the ground; they are so fucked up, but I love them and I wear them everywhere because they’re so comfy. I feel like Bottega makes really comfy shoes. They’re so practical and easy, but not too thick or wide. The heel is just a little bit of heel. It’s a very subdued shoe you can wear with anything, even with shorts — I love a short with a really high boot on.
Hairstyling shoe secrets: The ones I wear a lot when I’m doing hair [are] my Balenciaga Bulldozer boots, because they’re just so tall and so simple to take on and off. Also, their black leathers don’t really get stained by color, which is another concern — anything with laces, too. They get a bunch of hair clippings in them, so you can’t really get it out and at the end of the day, you have to use your blow dryer to move all the hair out of the laces. So I don’t usually wear laces, either.
Dressing for Fashion Week: I really love last-minute planning for everything. I’m not a huge outfit planner; I love to figure out what my vibe is that day. And I never go based off of the event I’m going to — it’s just based off of what I feel like doing, which I think is just cooler in a way, when you just wear what you want to wear, and not what people want you to wear. I go into the vibe for the outfit, and then a lot of my shoes are black or white. Pretty much my entire closet is black and white, because I don’t like fussing with color too much and I like easily functional shoes that have an interesting flair to them. Most of my shoes go with anything, but it’s always a toss of, do I want to look clean and put together, or I want to go for a more grungy style…I have half-clean, half-grungy. Usually, I go towards the grungy style, but it’s also about the fit of the pant, as well. If it’s super wide, I always go with a chunky boot. If it’s a more skinny jeans, I’ll maybe do a Chelsea boot or a thinner, more compact boot.
Going grunge: I was very much a scene emo kid when I was a teenager, and I very much went back to that in the past year and a half. I think I’m just going to stay in that era for the rest of my life. I just want to be an emo kid for the rest of my life. It really wasn’t a phase, but I feel like fashion, in general, is going more towards that punky aesthetic right now anyways, so maybe it is just a phase. But I feel like every year my clothes get baggier, and chunkier, and bigger and heavier — and I’m okay with that. I love that.
Most expensive shoes: I believe it’s the Rick Owens shoes, the Tractor boots in taupe. I think when I bought them, they were $2,000 which was honestly kind of dumb. They’re great, well-made, but a suede shoe is always a pain in the ass. I don’t know why I convinced myself to buy a suede shoe. I wore them once and they have watermarks on them, and I’m like, “Okay, well, I guess we’ll go with the vibe.”
Least expensive shoes: I think they’re my Adidas shoes. They were $90, they’re 3D-printed. They’re called the Rovermule shoe — I think the bottom, the sole is 3D-printed. I love those shoes, they’re so comfy.
Biggest shoe regret: These shoes by The Row. They’re an ankle boot, a white ankle boot. They were also just really expensive, and I don’t wear them because they’re so skinny. I don’t know how to explain them, but they’re really long and really skinny, and I don’t know what I was thinking. They’re not my vibe at all, so I never wear them. The other pair that I really love but I don’t wear either is these Givenchy, futuristic-looking shoes. They’re so little and skinny, and I wear gigantic pants, so it never works.
Wish list: I shop a lot. I did just buy the 1017 ALYX 9SM Mono boots, they’re also really futuristic-looking, 3D-printed style. I bought them in three different colors because I was obsessed with them. A lot of the shoes that I want that I don’t have are not real shoes; I follow a lot of Instagram accounts that create mock-ups or 3D renders of shoes, and they’re usually super futuristic and crazy. I always want these shoes, but they’re not actually available — so, if I could just have the shoes that don’t exist, that’s what I want.
Shopping hot spots: I’m a huge Ssense fan. I probably shop there 95% of the time, and otherwise I thrift a lot. I usually go in Bushwick, there’s a few stores that I love; my go-to is usually L Train Vintage. Ssense is my go-to; I just look at the homepage and discover every new designer and see what they’re about and buy from them. I just like to try new brands a lot, and not stick with one particular brand. It’s more exciting to learn about these new brands on that site and discover new people easily, so usually I’m there.
About the Author:
Aaron Royce is the Assistant Digital Editor for Footwear News, where he writes stories on celebrity style, brand collaborations and in-depth profile interviews. Prior to joining Footwear News, Royce wrote and interned for publications including PAPER, Grazia and the Daily Front Row. He currently holds a B.S. in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University.
